The present invention broadly relates to distributed computing environments. Specifically, the present invention relates to the configuration of computer components in a computer network. More specifically, the present invention relates to automatic detection and identification of network interface cards.
Computer networks often incorporate equipment containing different components. Components may differ because of the specific function of the individual computer, vendor source or age of the component, or the time at which the component was updated. As a result, the network interface card (NIC) used to connect the computer to the network often differs from machine to machine. One of the tasks of a network administrator is to update various software used on the network, including operating system software and specific application software. Often, in order to update the software on an individual computer, the network administrator must modify system and protocol files stored in the computer to specify the network driver interface specification (xe2x80x9cNDISxe2x80x9d) driver and characteristics of the NIC. These characteristics often include resource allocation of the PC such as input/output (xe2x80x9cI/Oxe2x80x9d) addresses, memory mapping, direct memory access (xe2x80x9cDMAxe2x80x9d) channels, and interrupt assignments. In modem PC designs, these resources are dynamically allocated by the basic input output system (xe2x80x9cBIOSxe2x80x9d) of the PC in such a fashion as to eliminate conflicts. Hard encoding this information in the system and protocol initialization files is incompatible with these dynamic allocation standards. In the case of deploying an updated operating system across an entire computer network, the configuration time is costly because the common practice is to use different magnetic floppy disks (xe2x80x9cboot floppiesxe2x80x9d) to support the various configurations throughout the network, and deployment is a largely manual process.
Embedded in the firmware of most NIC""s is a unique media access controller (xe2x80x9cMACxe2x80x9d) address that complies with an established IEEE standard. This MAC address could be used to identify the NIC during the configuration process. However, access to this information early in the boot process can be problematic. Low level program access to this information normally requires detailed knowledge of the hardware design of the NIC. This information is not readily available in the PC industry and access often requires licensing provisions.
Another problem occurs with the NDIS driver version verification. The NDIS driver provided in the suite of drivers for a particular NIC are proprietary to the NIC provider. These drivers often go through numerous updates and these updates are distributed via such diverse channels as the Internet. An older or newer version of this driver may not provide the compatibility required and thus verification through testing is needed for proper configuration.
One of the problems facing the detection of a wide variety of NMC""s is the likelihood of performing an illegal operation that will hang the process. There have been significant efforts by various industry committees to eliminate conflicts by creating standardized access methods for identifying an installed NIC. However, in some cases there still is no alternative to using direct hardware access methods to detect installed peripheral components. Unfortunately, there are numerous risks and pitfalls associated with the use of direct hardware access methods. Direct hardware access methods involve accesses to memory and I/O space in undefined regions to detect the presence of hardware registers or memory structures on a NIC that specific to that device. However, if some other device resides in these spaces, the response of that device may be indeterminate. Indeterminate responses often result in conditions which disrupt the boot process, such as an unexpected interrupt or hanging the bus signal.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,852,722, xe2x80x9cSystem and Method for Automatic Configuration of Home Network Computers,xe2x80x9d discloses a system and method for determining local service provider information by looking up a directory of local service providers stored on a server. Client computer specific information is also obtained from a database and used by a server computer. The client computer then downloads the local service provider information and configuration information from the server computer to configure itself and establish connection to the local service provider. However, the ""722 patent does not address the issue of network interface card detection.
Thus, there remains a need for a method and apparatus of rapidly configuring a network computer network that detects and identifies different NICs without performing illegal operations.
The present invention addresses the problems discussed above by providing a method and apparatus for performing device driver configuration and by performing automatic detection and identification of installed NICs with a minimized likelihood of performing an illegal operation that would hang the detection process. Once the NIC is identified, the present invention verifies and loads software appropriate for the NIC.
In one aspect, the present invention provides a method of automatically configuring a computer having at least one network interface card comprising the steps of: a) applying at least one standardized access method to identify at least one network interface card located on the computer; b) obtaining information in response to the application of the standardized access method; and c) loading software appropriate for the network interface card onto the computer in response to the first information.
In another aspect, the present invention provides a method of automatically configuring a computer having at least one network interface card comprising the steps of: a) applying at least one standardized access method to identify the network interface card; b) obtaining information in response to the application of the standardized access method; c) applying at least one direct hardware access method to said computer to identify at least one network interface card located on the computer; d) obtaining second information in response to the application of the direct hardware access method; and e) loading software appropriate for the network interface card onto the computer in response to the second information.
In another aspect, the present invention provides a computer system for configuring another computer having at least one network interface card, the computer system comprising: a) a first interface for receiving requests to configure the computer; b) a processor coupled to the first interface; c) a memory containing instructions to be executed by the processor; and d) a second interface for communicating network interface card information between the processor and the other computer.
In yet another aspect, the present invention provides a computer readable storage medium for use with computer apparatus, the medium including computer instructions which, when executed by the computer apparatus: a) apply at least one standardized access method to identify at least one network interface card located on the computer; b) obtain information in response to the application of the standardized access method; and c) load software appropriate for the network interface card onto the computer in response to the first information.
In still another aspect, the present invention provides a computer readable storage medium for use with computer apparatus, the medium including computer instructions which, when executed by the computer apparatus: a) apply at least one standardized access method to identify the network interface card; b) obtain information in response to the application of the standardized access method; c) apply at least one direct hardware access method to said computer to identify at least one network interface card located on the computer; d) obtain second information in response to the application of the direct hardware access method; and e) load software appropriate for the network interface card onto the computer in response to the second information.
Other features and benefits of the present invention will be apparent from the detailed description of the invention when considered with the accompanying drawings.